Quick answer: Two reports released on October 26, 2026, and covered by K-12 Dive, found that family engagement, student connectedness, dedicated attendance teams, and comprehensive responses are working to reduce chronic absenteeism. In the principal survey analysis, 77% of principals who reported four or more effective attendance strategies also reported substantial reductions, compared with 41% of principals who reported just one. Both reports stress understanding why students miss school before choosing a fix.
You send the letters. You review the attendance report every week. You call families, and some of them call back. Chronic absenteeism in your building is still higher than it was before 2020, and the students who most need to be in class are often the ones who are not there.
That is not a sign you are doing it wrong. Most schools are in the same position, and the new research suggests the answer is less about one more program and more about how a few strategies fit your students' reasons for staying home. This guide summarizes what the two reports found and what to try this week.
Chronic absenteeism is broadly defined as missing 10% of the school year, about 18 days, for any reason, excused or unexcused. According to a 45-state analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, as reported by K-12 Dive, the national rate was 15.4% in 2019, rose to 28.3% in 2022, and fell to 22.6% in 2025. Most schools still have students missing class at above pre-pandemic levels. K-12 Dive covered the slowing pace of improvement in Progress to reduce chronic absenteeism slows nationwide.
The first is an analysis of two surveys of principals from the 2024-25 school year by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, the Partnership for Student Success, and the GRAD Partnership: Chronic Absenteeism is a Hard but Addressable Problem. The second is the 2026 Attendance Playbook from FutureEd and Attendance Works, which collects more than 30 evidence-based strategies for attendance barriers, including early childhood and social-emotional supports.
According to K-12 Dive, the approaches working in schools are:
Among principals, school connectedness was at the top of the list of effective strategies. K-12 Dive describes it as better student-teacher and student-peer relationships, plus a supportive school environment. One of the strategies mentioned in the guide, references CharacterStrong's practice of 4 at the Door + 1 More.
The number of strategies also mattered. In the survey analysis, 77% of principals who reported four or more effective strategies said they had seen substantial reductions in chronic absenteeism, compared with 41% of principals who reported one. Substantial reductions were more common in schools whose strategies matched the root causes of why their students were absent and that had the capacity to run those strategies at scale. These are principal self-reports, so they show an association, not proof that the strategies caused the reductions.
K-12 Dive reports that vigorously using truancy laws to get students back in classrooms, and conducting surveys to better understand why students are chronically absent, were not as effective as the approaches above. The same article notes that both reports find it is important for schools to understand why their students are not attending. The reports themselves have the detail on how those two findings fit together, so read their methods before you change how your school gathers that information.
Some barriers are specific to the years since the pandemic, such as families choosing to keep children home over possible illness and an assumption that schoolwork can be done at home digitally. Others have been around longer, including chronic illness, transportation problems, and family demands.
Absenteeism is a symptom, and different students miss school for different reasons. Dr. Clay Cook's attendance framework, which CharacterStrong uses with schools, names seven root causes, you can find them in our guide to chronic absenteeism here:
Start small. Pick 10 students who are near or over the 10% line. Ask each student and family two questions: "What makes it hard to get here?" and "What would make it worth it?" Then sort the answers into the seven root causes and see which ones show up most. The most common cause in your building tells you where to start.
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If most answers point to |
Start with |
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Belonging and connection |
Relationship routines such as door greetings and a trusted adult for each student |
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Safety |
Restoring relationships after conflict and clear, shared expectations |
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Family engagement and support |
Personal outreach to families and removing barriers such as transportation and language |
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Mental health |
A trusted adult, plus your counselor and referral partners |
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Health and medical |
Your school nurse and family health supports |
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Purpose, motivation, and peer influence |
Student voice and choice, plus connection routines |
Principals rated connection as the most effective attendance strategy, and one of the lowest-burden ways to build it is a daily greeting. Positive Greetings at the Door is a classroom routine with four parts:
CharacterStrong teaches the routine as 4 at the Door + 1 More. The research brief on Positive Greetings at the Door summarizes the evidence.
In a 2018 randomized study in the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, led by Dr. Clay Cook, 10 middle school teachers and their 203 students were randomly assigned to the greeting strategy or to an attention control condition. In classrooms using the strategy, academic engagement rose from about 59% to about 80% of observed time, and disruptive behavior fell significantly.
The study measured engagement and behavior, not attendance. It was small, and it took place in classes with high rates of disruptive and off-task behavior. We include it because connection is the strategy principals rated highest for attendance, and greetings are a low-cost way to build it.
To start on Monday:
The 2026 Attendance Playbook organizes its strategies into tiers of support. Tier 1 is universal prevention for all students: engaging students and families, rigorous and relevant instruction, effective communication, and safe and reliable transportation. Summer and after-school programs are one way to improve attendance during the regular school day and year. Tier 3 is intensive, individualized support that can address a student's housing, health, and other needs. For housing, the playbook suggests reaching out to local education foundations and using Title I, Part A homeless set-aside funds to increase staff capacity and services.
CharacterStrong's supports follow the same structure. These overview pages show how they connect: MTSS, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
Dedicated attendance teams were among the approaches the reports found working. When attendance falls to one or two people, the work tends to stay reactive. Name the team, set a standing 30-minute weekly meeting, and bring one list: students grouped by the share of days missed (0 to 5%, 5 to 9%, 10 to 19%, and 20% or more), each with a named adult and a next step.
CharacterStrong is a PreK-12 whole child curriculum and professional learning company, and attendance is one of the problems schools ask it to help solve.
What is chronic absenteeism?
Chronic absenteeism is broadly defined as missing 10% of the school year, about 18 days, for any reason, including excused and unexcused absences.
What is the national chronic absenteeism rate?
An American Enterprise Institute analysis of 45 states, reported by K-12 Dive, found a rate of 22.6% in 2025, down from 28.3% in 2022 and above the 15.4% rate in 2019.
What works to reduce chronic absenteeism?
Two reports released October 26, 2026 point to family engagement, student connectedness, dedicated attendance teams, and comprehensive responses. Principals with four or more effective strategies were more likely to report substantial reductions (77%) than principals with one (41%).
Are truancy laws an effective way to improve attendance?
K-12 Dive reports that vigorously using truancy laws was not as effective as family engagement, student connectedness, dedicated attendance teams, and comprehensive responses.
Does greeting students at the door improve attendance?
The randomized study of Positive Greetings at the Door measured academic engagement and disruptive behavior, not attendance. Principals in the survey rated connection-building as the most effective attendance strategy, and greetings are one low-cost way to build it.
Where should a school start?
Ask 10 students who are near the 10% line, and their families, why it is hard to get to school. Sort the answers into root causes, then choose strategies that match the most common causes.